The Boy-Who-Lived
by sodasoda
Summary: The Chosen One should REALLY be an amalgamation of all four Hogwarts houses... [ON HIATUS]
1. I: Trolls

For all of Hagrid's enthusiasm towards Hogwarts and Dumbledore, nothing could compare to the charm and awe that filled Harry as he and the rest of the first-years entered the Great Hall.

Somewhere behind him, Harry heard a girl pointedly whisper that the ceiling was "bewitched to look like the sky outside – I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_."

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty /  
But don't judge me on what you see /  
I'll eat myself if you can –"

Shock, awe and amusement filled the faces around him as Harry moved his gaze to the front of the hall, where an old, frayed and dirty hat sat upon a rickety-looking wooden stool. Singing… the hat was singing. Glancing quickly around the vast room, Harry noted that none of the seated students seemed at all alarmed as he was – so it was a normal occurrence out here then. A flash of a vision of the look on Uncle Vernon's face if he were here watching this old, dirty hat sing had Harry smothering down laughter. All too soon however, the stern lady from outside the hall began calling names in alphabetical order. Observing the commotion of the sorting around him, he almost missed the call of his name. Of course with luck of his side, the entire hall went silent, and as Harry made his way up to the dais the stool stood on, hushed whispers swam through the room.

Harry sat down on the stool as Professor McGonagall moved to place the hat on his head.

"Hmm,' said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very Difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting … So where shall I put you?"

Harry tensed and, in a panic, his mind was instantly flooded with various experiences of his past, bits and pieces of memories from his earliest to the most recent shock of discovering his identity and heritage. Harry flashed through memories of the Dursley's, that one teacher he'd never forgive for getting him in trouble with Uncle Vernon, Mrs. Figg and her army of felines, Hagrid and his startling revelations, and quiet, reedy Theodore being dragged through the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley by a determined house-elf. He'd be lying if he said his parents didn't zip through, but to be honest, it didn't really count as he could never remember what they looked like.

The sorting hat hmm-ed and hah-ed for another minute or so and Harry began to hear the initial whispers get louder the longer he sat up there. His nerves were slowly getting the better of him and Harry tried to hide his now-shaking hands in the sleeves of his robes.

"Interesting, hmm, ah … Well, I can't say I won't regret this but you better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry barely breathed a sigh of relief before shakily hopping down off the stool towards the Gryffindor table. Keeping his eyes to his shuffling feet, he took a seat next to the other first years before slowly peering up at the chaos around him. Glancing up at the High Table, Harry skipped past Hagrid, who gave him a beaming smile, and recognized the bearded, spectacle-wearing old man in the center as Headmaster Dumbledore from the Chocolate Frog card he'd got on the train. Moving down the table he recognized Professor Quirrell, but was then drawn to the sallow, greasy-haired man sitting next to him. As their eyes met, Harry let out a pained hiss and slapped him palm to his forehead. Both actions garnered him the attention of many heads around him and Harry quickly shot them a sheepish smile.

"Just remembered I forgot my favorite pair of socks."

The dark-skinned boy sitting across from him broke the tension with his laughter, bringing a round of giggles from the rest.

"Harry, right? I'm Dean. Dean Thomas." The boy tossed his hand out and Harry shook it shyly.

"Yeah, Harry. Nice to meet you."

The boy sitting next to Dean threw out a "Seamus Finnigan" in between craning his head this way and that around the room.

It was then that the Headmaster stood up and addressed the hall before him.

"Welcome!' he said. "Welcome all to a new year at…" Harry tuned him out and took this opportunity to glance across the hall at the Slytherin table. His gaze moved up and down the table before settling on a small, dark-haired head that he'd become acquainted with on the train near the front.

Theodore Nott, as if sensing Harry's gaze, looked up hesitantly until he spotted the source. Eyes widening, he looked sensibly startled by Harry's focus on him and more so when Harry directed a small smile in his direction.

Harry, on the other hand, worried slightly at the lack of positive response to his smile but resolutely held his ground. Eventually, he spotted a rather small quirk of Theodore's lips and contently pulled his gaze away from the boy. He realized, rather bashfully, that he'd missed the Headmaster's speech as said man was now seating himself back down in his throne-like chair.

"…Potatoes, Harry?" came at the other side of him, and Harry jerked his head back to his table as he noticed the feast that lay before him. Whilst Harry had never been outright starved to the point of desperate hunger (for fear of death) at the Dursley's, he didn't think he could even imagine the amount of food he was now staring at in shock. Harry nodded an affirmation at the offer and settled in, marveling at the bountiful opportunity for food the next 7 years at Hogwarts offered. Yes, Harry was quite glad to be at Hogwarts.

* * *

Harry changed his mind. He wasn't quite sure if he was glad to be here anymore. He definitely should have given his hesitations a little more thought than he had. This school was no school for him. It was a fairy tale alright, filled with monsters and even more monsters.

Trolls, specifically!

OK… One troll. But a troll nonetheless.

In the school!

A troll in the school.

A troll in the school where Harry lived and breathed and ate.

Harry wondered if the Hogwarts Express ran daily or maybe even weekly. He could maybe handle bi-monthly if tomorrow was one of the two days it ran. Harry wasn't sure if he could wait until the winter holidays – mostly because there was a chance he'd be dead then.

"First Years! Keep up please! No need to be alarmed, just please, keep up!"

Harry picked up his pace, his keen ear noting the just-so-slightly-alarming edge of panic in the prefect's voice. A hand suddenly clutched at his robes and Harry slowed down to whip his head around. It was the girl with dark, thick plaits who'd been separated from her sister in the sorting. Pavi, Pansy – no different girl, Patty…

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry paused mid-step and shook his head in response.

"I don't know who that is, sor-"

"Harry! Parvati! Come on! Forget about the troll romping around the castle or what?"

Parvati! That's what her name was…

"Right, coming! Hey Dean, you seen a girl named Hem– Hermee– sorry what was it?"

Parvati gave him a look, "It's Hermione. And I'm asking because she wasn't at dinner and I haven't seen her with us… She might not know about the troll!"

Dean's face contorted slightly in concern, but shrugged and said, "Well, hopefully a teacher finds her first then."

Harry nodded his agreement and turned back around feeling slightly alarmed at the lack of bodies ahead of him in the hallway.

Parvati made a noise of protest as the two boys continued down the hall.

"But what about Hermione? We have to find her!"

Harry sighed and turned himself back towards the girl. "Look, we're in a school. The teachers are obviously well equipped to deal with a troll, if not they would have evacuated the school, not sent us to our dormitories. Besides, what could a couple of 11-year-old's do against a troll anyway?" And with that Harry snapped back around and hurriedly made his way down the corridor.

Harry wanted to put as much distance between him and that damned monster. He seriously hoped he hadn't mystically defeated a dark magical lord just to have his life ended by a great ugly troll.

* * *

 **I've edited the chapter again & will be reworking the story. It'll shorter and funnier (I hope). x  
** ** _  
Also please bear in mind that I own nothing from the Harry Potter world and that I have directly quoted from the book and in no way claim them to be my own words._**


	2. II: The Dursley's

Harry was pleased to note that he had successfully completed his first year at Hogwarts with no further attempts on his life – well, actually that's a lie… Apparently the Dark Lord Voldemort had been hanging around on Quirrell's head the whole year in an attempt to get something called the Resurrection stone, but Dumbledore swears on his position as Supreme Mugwump (Harry had most assuredly looked that up because, no offense to the Wizarding World, it sounded fake) that Harry's life was not in danger. Parvati, on the other hand, had some rather strong aversions to this… Regardless, he managed to get in the top 5 of his year (Theo had gotten second)! Harry was quite proud of himself (and Theo, of course). Professor McGonagall had given him quite a soft and pleased look when she'd posted the listings in the common room, something the Weasley twins (they all looked like twins to Harry but apparently, there were actual, identical twins – unsurprisingly) were shocked and overjoyed about.

Now if only he didn't have to go back to the Dursley's…

"Not much of a savior if he can't even get top of the class, is he?"

A few titters spread throughout the common room in response to small-Weasley's (there was just so many of them) ingenious quip. Harry sighed internally and rolled his eyes at the ginger menace. However, before he could say anything, Parvati piped up from next to him.

"At least he's smart enough to get on the board Weasley. Can't really say the same for you, now can we?"

Although an almost every day experience, Harry enjoyed watching the boy's face grow more and more puce as he scowled at his classmates around him, the angry flush clashing horridly with his bright, orange hair.

"Sod off, Weasley." Harry turned and smiled at Dean, who ungracefully squeezed himself between Harry and Parvati. Parvati pulled a face at Dean, who instantly began teasing her with his own, mostly ridiculous, faces.

Rolling his eyes at their antics, Harry sighed and figured that putting up with the Dursley's for the next two months would be worth the 10 months he spent at Hogwarts following the visit – a visit, he'd decided, because Hogwarts was now his home, and there was, really, no place quite like home.

"Boy!"

Harry snorted awake and blindly shoved the thin sheet he'd been generously provided with by Aunt Petunia when he'd been forced up into Dudley's old second bedroom at the potential threat of Child Services off his still half-asleep body.

"BOY!' a series of sharp, forceful knocks cracked against the door, 'Get up!"

"I'm up, Aunt Petunia, I'm up."

Harry yawned, rubbing his eyes as he still-blindly searched for his trousers.

"If you're not down in two minutes…!"

Harry hummed affirmatively, grabbed his glasses and stumbled towards the door, running a hand through his thick mop of hair.

As he walked through the kitchen door, Harry ducked instinctually as Dudley came lumbering from the side in an attempt to knock him over. Glowering at his failed attempt, Dudley sneered at Harry, muttering a quick "Freak" under his breath as he forced his rotund figure into a chair at the table. Harry ignored the boy in favour of imagining all the seemingly endless possibilities of creatures he now knew existed that he could set loose on the boy.

"Don't burn the bacon, boy."

Harry glanced at his aunt who was mindlessly fussing with her pig of a son. Rolling his eyes and glancing at the calendar that had not been there when he'd left for school, Harry prayed for the day he'd return back to Hogwarts to come swiftly. If only time-travel were possible…

"I need to get my school things."

"What?"

Harry sighed internally at the shrill crack in his aunt's voice.

"I need to go and get my school things… from Diagon Alley."

Petunia hissed slightly under her breath and glanced nervously around the kitchen.

"Why can't that– that man take you?"

Harry resisted the urge to groan – he knew this would be difficult.

"Well, it's not exactly his job… and I just need to get to the Alley, you don't need to come in with me." Harry hoped this would appeal to her.

It was silent, with the exception of Dudley's piggish eating habits, while Petunia considered her nephew's words. Swallowing down a gulp of her tea, her mouth pinched and frown line exaggerated, she nodded stiffly at Harry.

"Fine. I'll take you as close as I have to, but you will find your own way back."

Harry refrained from mentioning that he wouldn't be coming back and nodded his head as stiffly as she had.

Cow.

Diagon Alley was as dreamlike as it was the first time he'd visited. The hustle and bustle, the screaming children, and the overflowing stores were all pure magic to him. Even a whole year away at Hogwarts was not enough to take away the awe and wonder that filled him with every magical encounter. And Harry sorely hoped the feeling would never leave.

Blissfully trapped in his reverence toward all things magical, Harry failed to notice an incoming crowd of ginger-haired wizards (and witches) until he was swept up into the identical arms of two of them.

"Oh, blessed Savior –"

"– Our dearest Dark Wizard vanquisher–"

Harry sighed and gave in to the orange menaces that reminded him much of that Devil's Snare plant that apparently ravaged the third floor at the end of the year.

"Fred, George, let the poor boy go!"

Harry craned his neck around in attempt to see the sweetly-spoken witch. A rather plump, but stern-looking witch with a rather darker shade of hair than her offspring stood not a foot behind him with her hands on her hips. Shooting stern looks at the twins wrapped around him, she quickly softened her features, smiling graciously at Harry, who felt compelled to smile back at her. He was taken away by her beaming face at his response and felt a flush around his neck.

Finally untangled from the gangly twins, Harry was introduced to even more of the Weasley family (to his utter horror, no matter how gentle and calming Molly Weasley was) and one Ginevra Weasley, or Ginny as Fred and George called her. Apparently, she would be joining the Hogwarts crew as the last member of the ever-excessive Weasley family. She stood slightly behind her mother, cheeks pinked and gaze lowered to the ground. Harry was quite aware of how small he was, but he could not for the life of him imagine this small, shy girl to be only a year younger than him. There was also the matter of burning hero-love the oozed out of her eyes, and Harry felt a tad guilty at his sudden desire to be far, far away from her.

As Harry wandered the alley alongside his gingery company, he kept a keen eye out for Theo, Dean and Parvati. With Hedwig contained to the garden shed, Harry hadn't had much opportunity to send any owls, which turned out to be less of a problem than he'd expected since he'd received not one single letter. Strangely enough, his Hogwarts letter had been delivered with the morning post and there had no owl other than Hedwig in sight. Harry didn't think too much of it.

"– arry? Harry, over here!"

Whipping his head around, he caught sight of two identically-dressed girls on the steep of the Apothecary, and one was waving frantically at him. Harry felt a grin bloom across his face, ignoring the slight pang he felt at the sight of a friend (who hadn't kept in touch with him all summer).

With a wave of his hand to the Weasley's, Harry wove through the crowds towards the twins.

He was immediately engulfed in a hug from Parvati who just as suddenly pulled away from him. Looking hesitant and nervous, she asked him if that had been OK. Harry furrowed his brows at the question and shrugged with a soft, "Yeah."

"Well, it's just that – well – you didn't respond to any of my letters!"

Her sister, Padma, turned her gaze away from the crowd at the outburst and fixed him with a cold, unimpressed stare. Harry gave her a withering glance.

"What do you mean? I never received any letters this summer."

"None?! Not even my painstakingly-hand-made birthday card?"

Harry shook his head, and then frowned.

"Why wouldn't I get any mail?"

Padma made a small noise with her mouth, "Who knows… Maybe your home is under untraceable wards."

Harry didn't believe that… but well, how would he even know?

Parvati nodded her head frantically, "Gosh, Harry, of course! For your safety! And of course, all that fan-mail shouldn't bombard you at all hours of the day!"

Padma visibly rolled her eyes, but Harry paid her no heed. He'd gotten his Hogwarts letter last summer, and this summer… he'd gotten hundreds if not thousands of Hogwarts letters last summer! Hundreds of owls too!

Something wasn't quite right.

"Oh, Harry! There you are, dear… Oh, and you've gotten your books too – lovely."

Mrs. Weasley gave him another one of her gracious smiles and Harry felt that warm feeling course through him again. How this bubbly, sweet woman ever created a worm of a child like Ron Weasley was beyond Harry's comprehension.

"Now, where am I taking you to meet your guardians?"

Harry looked back up at the matriarch questioningly.

"My guardians?"

"Yes? Are they not expecting you?" Mrs. Weasley began to frown, the corners of her mouth turning down in confusion.

"Er – well, no. I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron until the first, Ma'am."

"With your guardians?"

Harry waffled a bit with his answer, glancing around the street before returning his gaze to the woman.

"Alone."

Mrs. Weasley looked alarmed, and her surrounding children began to edge away behind her. Harry felt as though he, too, should back away slowly. He resolved to hold his ground and speak up before the suddenly imposing matriarch could speak her word.

"They – er, my guardians that is, have given me permission to stay by myself. They live far and, well, aren't exactly comfortable around other wizards – and witches. It's only for a couple of nights," Harry wracked his brain quickly, "And Headmaster Dumbledore is aware of my circumstance."

Harry nodded as if reassuring himself that this was true, comforting himself with the knowledge that someone inquiring after a child that is not their own is almost never a thing.

Mrs. Weasley looked him at him apprehensively, as if she didn't want to believe him. Eventually, she relented and gave him a small smile, but not before demanding that he owl her every night and should he ever need anything – anything at all – he just Floo straight over to "The Burrow". Harry thought it was an odd name for a home, and instantly recalled the nickname Draco Malfoy insisted on using despite the rage, hexes and pranks that flew his way after each and every single use – 'the Weasels'.

As Harry made his way up to his room, he reflected on the guilt he felt after lying to Mrs. Weasley. But she could never understand his relationship with the Dursley's… and what could she do anyway that others had tried and failed to do before her? No, it was for the best. They didn't understand and they wouldn't do anything. Besides, according to Theo, he only had five more years of dealing with them – and, in comparison to the rest of his life, it felt insignificant.

If only the Dark Lord Voldemort would just leave him alone once and for all…

* * *

 **Wah! I'm so sorry for the delay in the next chapter... I'm graduating this year so the last month and a half have been so rough for me! I'm in the middle of moving back home right now so it might be another week before I manage to upload the next update! Apologies x**


	3. III: The Diary

Harry stared at the deep, almost blood-red color of the Hogwarts Express, curiously wondering at the decision behind the colour of the train. He realized then that he had never finished reading through _Hogwarts, A History_ last year and wondered if perhaps the answer he sought lay in the renowned text. Harry would have to scamper off to the library first thing tomorrow morning.

As he moved through the cars, his eyes searching through the windows for one person, Harry started to wonder about the choice of the yearly start date. Why September 1st? Why not the first Monday or Tuesday of September? Not that he was complaining of course, seeing as this year's September 1st landed on a Friday, and thus, class wouldn't start until Monday. Professor Snape would have to wait an extra two days before he could resume his deep, dark, brooding stares at Harry… Harry considered being more alarmed over them, but couldn't find it within him to care – especially not after finding out about Snape's active role in keeping that irritatingly persistent dark lord away from him. He recalled the ginger twins bemoaning their shock over that tidbit of information.

Lost in his thoughts, and not for the first time, Harry missed a flurry of movement in one of the compartments and smacked right into the exiting figure.

Harry swore.

Adjusting his glasses, he fixed a cold stare on his face and looked up at the offender. And then blinked in surprise and delight.

"Theo!"

The boy, Theo, also looked back at Harry in delighted surprise.

"Oh, good, I was just leaving to look for you." Harry could feel that oh-so-familiar warm feeling worm its way around his body.

"Convenient… I was looking for you too." And Harry smiled.

Harry also noticed the couple of inches Theo now had on him. He must be one of those 'early bloomers' Petunia was always disparaging in the face of her still rotund, chubby-cheeked son.

"Come. Let's find a compartment.' At Harry's side glance towards the compartment he'd just come out of, Theo replied shortly, 'It's full."

Sensing the boy's aversion to the compartment in question, Harry nodded and gestured for Theo to lead on.

* * *

The duo quickly found Harry's favoured Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's. Harry beamed at the chorus of Hi's and Hello's that greeted them at the opening of the door. Squeezing themselves into the already full compartment, Harry settled on the bench next to Dean and Seamus while Theo placed himself between Harry's legs on the floor. Over the long course of the journey, Harry and Theo switched spots frequently to allow an equal share of comfort and discomfort – because that's what friends do – waving away any protests or offerings of switches by the others.

To Harry's utter delight, Theo stayed with the group (with Harry, really) up until the train neared Hogsmeade, where he announced his departure back to his previous compartment to grab his trunk. Harry gave him a more somber smile this time, vowing to have the boy meet him in the library the next day. Parvati nudged Padma at Harry's forlorn gaze out the compartment door, and both girls giggled and waggled their brows at the boy who - still gazing longingly out the door window – failed to notice either of their antics.

Dean, on the other hand, glanced between Harry and the girls questioningly, but went unanswered by both parties. Shrugging, he swiveled back to Seamus who had now stood up to grab his robes.

Harry, happy to not have to travel to the castle via an old, rickety wooden boat, loaded himself and his trunk into a carriage, and squeezed himself against the side to fit himself, Parvati, and Padma on one side with Dean and Seamus on the other. As they neared the castle, Harry couldn't help but recall his awe and mesmerisation at the beauty and grandeur of the place he called home. Because anything was better than the Dursley's at Number 4 Privet Drive.

Although, Hogwarts did have it drawbacks… Ghosts (it was insanely weird for muggle-raised Harry), Peeves the poltergeist (who decided this was a good idea in a castle full of school-children?), moving stairs, the flipping Forbidden Forest (WHO decided THIS was a good idea in a castle FULL of school-children?), not to mention the Whomping Willow – speaking of which, where was Ron Weasley? Harry had not been harassed once by the ginger for the whole train ride up! It was too good to be true.

Oh! And then how could Harry forget about dear old Dark Lord Voldemort!

Harry had asked around… His first year had been the only year to have been disturbed by a dark wizard of any kind since those dark times before his birth. No records of traumatic, dangerous events occurring to any students in the last 10 years at Hogwarts – the library had such a wonderful collection of records if one knew where to look and how to charm Madame Pince. Of course, Harry figured Hogwarts wasn't much of a target for the dark wizard back then. But Harry had overhead talk of his favour for recruiting followers from Slytherin as, supposedly, the "man" had been in the house of snakes – he was even said to be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself! Imagine that…

Harry wondered about the other houses and their descendants – if they had any that is.

When he voiced his thoughts to Theo, the boy joked – though, he would deny it later – that if anyone was a descendant of anyone, it was the Weasley's that were Gryffindor's – what with all their hair and their long history of placements in old Godric's house. Harry had a bit of a laugh at that, more so when he was informed of Gryffindor's long, flaming red hair.

As the weeks strolled on, Harry had ended up having multiple conversations with various school-mates about this very topic – a topic that sparked intrigue and wonder in many of his fellow year-mates, as well as many upper-years. That is until the first petrification incident.

* * *

Mrs. Norris, the crazy cat, was found on the second-floor corridor by the Granger girl and Weasley. According to Lavendar Brown, they were arguing – again. Mrs. Norris, Filch's feisty feline mistress, hung on a broken lantern hook by her scraggly tail, soaking wet with her eyes wide open, and frozen solid down to the bone. Or well, petrified down to the bone.

Harry was, understandably, creeped out. As were many Hogwarts students… Many of whom had only heard exaggerated re-telling's of the original situation. Harry had actually caught Seamus spooking the first years with talk of dripping blood and some odd interpretation of the Bloody Baron. Harry did have to give it to him for the dripping blood bit, as that was mostly true. Parvati, who'd heard from Lavendar, who'd overheard Granger confiding in Neville Longbottom about how there had been blood-red writing dripping on the wall next to a hanging Mrs. Norris that read "The Chamber of Secrets is Open / Enemies of the Heir Beware".

As if a hanging, petrified Mrs. Norris wasn't creepy enough!

Frankly, Harry was a bit put-out at the terror that continuously seemed to wrack the school. In a funny way, it made sense when he considered what he'd originally thought about magic and witches. It was turning out to be an annual Halloween nightmare – one that lasted almost 10 months of the year!

Gloomily, Harry wondered if he would still be taken in at Stonewall… But that would mean being back at the Dursley's all year long.

Yeah, nope, Harry would take his chances with Hogwarts. At least if he got petrified, he wouldn't be sent back home! Though, knowing Aunt Petunia, he'd be shoved straight back into the cupboard under the stairs – a frozen boy had no use for a perfectly good bedroom.

So, Harry remained at Hogwarts, shaken and slightly horrified by Mrs. Norris' unfortunate petrification, curious about this "Chamber of Secrets".

He and his fellow classmates got some answers to the many questions that had been bubbling around the castle when Granger (Harry is starting to see why people call her a know-it-all swot) interrupts Binns in History of Magic a couple days after the incident. With the somewhat sparse knowledge he now had on the Founder's, Harry was starting to see the whole anti-Slytherin rhetoric that seemed to consume Hogwarts' community. Tensions seemed to rise between the houses (well, mainly towards Slytherin) following the spread of word that Slytherin's heir had been the one to open this "Chamber". Of course, there was also the fact that nobody, even Dumbledore, knew where the chamber even was. Harry thought that that fact alone was quite terrifying. Even more terrifying was Slytherin's monster – a creature supposedly hiding within the walls of the castle itself, ready to strike at any moment!

Even Theo seemed uneasy and tense at talk of the heir and the monster.

Harry was, quite understandably, on edge these days.

Which is probably why, in a fit of hurry to find a loo, Harry stumbled into the "abandoned" second-floor girls' bathroom, only to find it wasn't quite as abandoned as he'd thought. Moaning Myrtle was the ghost who "haunted" the loo, her name having been inspired by the aggravating wailing she made during most encounters with the living. More importantly, however, was when Harry walked past an overflowing toilet on his way to the sink and noticed a black, bound notebook sticking out of it. Intrigued, Harry yanks it out of the toilet and stuffs it into his robe pocket, musing at the name engraved on the back: T.M. Riddle.

It's later that night, after showing the damp diary to Theo, that they find out about another petrification. Colin Creevey, a first-year Gryffindor, who'd taken to following Harry around, irritatingly star-struck, had been found petrified with his camera in the dead of the night before. The duo had the misfortune of having to listen to Draco Malfoy sneer at the incidents while expressing his desire for Granger (he had actually referred to her as the know-it-all Mudblood, much to Harry's distaste when Theo informed him what the word meant) to be petrified next. Greengrass and Davis had shown up by that point and told the boy to remove himself from their presence if he was going to be so "uncouth" (Harry had to look that up), to which he responded by sneering and storming out of the library. The girls rolled their eyes and settled at his and Theo's table.

Not for the first time that year, Harry questioned whether Hogwarts was worth it.

* * *

 **Wah sorry again for the delay, hope you enjoy this chapter! x**


	4. Author Note: Hiatus

**Author Note**

Unfortunately, I've been really struggling with this... I tried to go about three different ways with this and then still had issues with it. It most likely has to do with my lack of confidence in myself when it comes to writing that I can't be happy with anything I write right now... I'm back in school and working full-time so I'm also having trouble finding time to write...

I don't want to take this down in case there is anyone or there will be anyone who enjoys any of it - and maybe, one day, I'll come back to it. But for now, this fic is on hiatus until I figure my shit out! Sorry to any readers who were looking forward to updates!

Thanks X


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